Packet data networks, such as the Internet, are becoming increasingly popular. Such packet data networks are used for various communication purposes, such as file transfer, email, and distribution of multimedia information (e.g. the World Wide Web). Recently, packet data networks have been employed for telephony calls.
Specialized computer software is available which allows parties connected to the Internet via a computer to carry on a voice conversation. On the transmission end, the software configures the computer to receive voice signals from a user (e.g. from a microphone connected to the computer), convert the voice signals into packet data appropriate for transmission via the Internet, and transmit the signals to the other party via the Internet. On the receiving end, the software configures the computer to receive the packet data from the Internet, convert the packet data to voice signals, and to send to the voice signals to a speaker such that a user can hear the voice of the transmitting party.
Many users of packet data voice communication software do not have direct connections to the Internet. Such users connect their computers to the Internet via a telephone line connection and a modem. The user connects to the Internet by placing a modem call to an Internet access provider (IAP), which then provides the user with a connection to the Internet.
One problem with Internet telephony is that users at both ends of the communication must be connected to the Internet prior to establishing the telephony connection. This is because there is no way to notify a user that an Internet telephony call is waiting unless that user's computer is connected to the Internet. This results in a problem because, as stated above, most Internet users do not have a direct and permanent connection to the Internet, rather they place a modem call to an IAP when they desire to connect to the Internet. In the context of Internet telephony, this means that both ends of the Internet call must know a particular time when the conversation is desired, and be sure to be connected at that time. One way to accomplish this is to have a predetermined time for the call. However, this is undesirable in that people's schedules often change and thus a predetermined time may be difficult to establish. Another problem with a predetermined time is that a voice call is often initiated by a calling party to the called party and the exact time of such initiation is unknown to the called party. One way to deal with this is that the calling party first places a conventional telephone call to the called party and requests that the called party connect a computer to the Internet in anticipation of an Internet telephony call from the calling party. Both parties then terminate the conventional telephone call, connect their respective computers to the Internet via their IAPs, and the Internet telephony call may then be established. This solution is both inconvenient and costly because it requires a conventional telephone call (often long distance) to be placed for the sole purpose of setting up an Internet telephony call.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a system and method for more efficient packet data network telephony call processing.